“In 2019, SIBUR was one of the first Russian companies to adopt a sustainable development strategy. In two years, we have undergone a comprehensive ESG transformation, realising that the strategy needs to be updated in order to meet new challenges of the rapidly changing environment. Some of the targets were achieved ahead of schedule, while others need to be redefined to become more audacious. There are also some additional areas which compel closer attention and require urgent action on our side. The updated document reflects our ambitious aspirations in the realm of carbon neutrality and circular economy,” said Dmitry Konov, Chairman of SIBUR’s Management Board.
One of the new goals is to make at least one SIBUR facility carbon neutral by 2025. To this end, we will improve the energy efficiency of processes and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix, introduce CO2 capture, removal, and storage technologies, and run sequestration projects. As the Company makes progress towards this goal, we will be able to test and assess the efficiency of existing and planned projects.
The updated strategy translates the goal to reuse plastic waste in the production cycle into specific figures. By 2025, SIBUR plans to facilitate recycling of at least 100 kt of polymer waste annually as part of its own investment projects and joint projects with partners. The key driver in delivering this goal will be the production of green PET granules – Vivilen rPET – containing recycled materials to be launched at POLIEF site in Blagoveshchensk in 2022. By 2030, SIBUR plans to make at least 250 kt of low-carbon products and those containing recycled or bio feedstock annually.
The green energy goal is now even more ambitious. As was previously announced, SIBUR plans to increase the share of green energy in its energy mix fivefold by 2025; however, the base year has been changed from 2019 to 2020. The calculation now factors in the launch of the Company's own solar power plant in SIBUR-Yug corporate resort in Anapa. SIBUR’s HR management and social activities are to be merged into a comprehensive diversity and inclusiveness programme by integrating the principles of diversity and inclusiveness into the Company's key by-laws and corporate practices. The goals related to the development of a methodology for assessing the product portfolio against sustainable development criteria, the approval of a human rights policy and the launch of long-term charitable projects to conserve biodiversity were delivered ahead of schedule.
